The Pork Industry Responds Responsible pork producers are committed to their animals' daily care and well-being. The recent HBO documentary does not reflect typical actions on U.S. hog farms.

Good Stuff? — Meat This Little Piggy Went to the Global Market World Watch Institute provides a great resource on all things meat with "Did you know?," "Successes," "Simple things you can do" and "Challenge yourself and others" sections.

Factory Farms: Environmental Damage As a result of irresponsible management practices, inadequate regulation and insufficient oversight, factory farms are among the worst polluters in the United States. The fundamental problem: too much poop …

Factory Farms: Socioeconomic Impact Factory Farms devastate surrounding communities by stifling economic growth, devaluing local properties and destroying the existing social fabric. These operations also damage the national economy by creating negative externalities, the cost of which is borne by all citizens.

Environmental and Health Problems in Livestock Production: Pollution in the Food System "Leveling the Field" – Issue Brief #2 During the last thirty years, the livestock production system in the United States has undergone an industrial revolution. The number of animals raised for meat has been steady or growing, even as the number of farms raising animals has declined. Today, we have only a quarter the number of hog farms we had in 1982, but the number of hogs sold has gone up. How is that possible? Only because of a major change in the way livestock are produced — a change that affects farmers, consumers, businesses and our communities.

Market Share Matrix on Agribusiness and Retail Concentration The Market Share Matrix is a free, instantly accessible Web site listing the names of the companies that dominate several aspects of the food system from seeds to retail. It provides an at-a-glance view of the countries and sectors where each company has a large stake. It also features regularly updated data on market shares, sales and concentration levels.

The Influence of the Big Three: ADM, Cargill and ConAgra (Dr. William Heffernan, June 1999) For more than a century farmers have felt that suppliers of certain inputs needed by farmers, such as bankers and farm equipment manufacturers, received a disproportionate share of the profits from food production. This study explores the involuntary exiting of farm families from production agriculture and the uneven distribution of the food dollar. Chart 1, Chart 2, Chart 3.